socalfunplaces Chapter 65 A Stratagem to Draw Back the Firewood and Incite Public Resentment
Chapter 65 A Stratagem to Draw Back the Firewood and Incite Public Resentment
The fatigue from refining pills in the space had not yet completely subsided, but Lin Yan's mind was already preoccupied with another matter. He concentrated and sent out a message.
A moment later, Lin Er's voice appeared in his mind: "Master."
"How's the situation with the Hong Kong police? Is it possible for our people to infiltrate and find a suitable 'protective umbrella'?" Lin Yan asked directly, as he needed efficiency.
"Reporting to Master," Lin Er's voice was devoid of any emotional fluctuation, but his words carried a condescending scrutiny and cold mockery, "The police here? Ha, they're a complete mess, rotten to the core. If you want to pick out a usable one, you'll probably have to use a high-pressure water gun to wash away several layers of grease and maggots first."
"Oh? Tell me more." Lin Yan became interested. He knew the situation might not be good, but he didn't expect Lin Er's evaluation to be so "harsh".
"Just on April 1st, two Chinese detectives named Lui Lok and Lam Kong were promoted to chief detectives, one in charge of Hong Kong Island and the other in charge of Kowloon. On the surface, it seems like the Chinese police have reached the pinnacle of power and are enjoying unlimited prestige. But in reality?" Lin Er paused, his tone becoming even more sarcastic, "This is nothing more than a 'spoils system' devised by the upper-class foreigners, providing a legitimate organizational structure for the full-scale collusion between the police force and the triads."
"Now, throughout Hong Kong Island, from Tsim Sha Tsui to Shau Kei Wan, from Yau Ma Tei to Causeway Bay, all the shady businesses—gambling dens, opium dens, brothels, even a small street vendor—have to pay 'protection money' to the local police every month. And what do the police do? They just turn a blind eye, and even help them suppress their rivals and divide up territories. Especially that newly appointed Lui Lok, I heard he gained some notoriety in 1955 by cracking down on the 14K, and what happened? He turned around and used his knowledge of the triads to turn the entire police force's resources into tools for his personal enrichment and expansion of power. Now he's so close to the 14K and Sun Yee On triads that they're practically inseparable. The triads give him money, and he's their biggest protector. It's a huge irony."
Lin Er continued describing the absurd reality in his monotone voice: "The current atmosphere here is such that not only shady businesses, but even ordinary fire fighting and hospital emergency care, if ordinary people don't bribe the police, they might get no attention. There's a saying among the people, 'Good kids don't become cops,' which shows how much the police have been stigmatized in the eyes of ordinary people. Those at the bottom work hard to earn a little money, only to have it taken by gangs and then exploited again by these uniformed thugs. It's so hard for them that even breathing feels like a waste of money."
"Master," Lin Er concluded, "in my opinion, this group is greedy, short-sighted, and utterly unscrupulous; they're practically all rotten apples. Trying to cultivate a 'protective umbrella' from among them would be incredibly costly and extremely risky. They only care about money and have absolutely no loyalty. Perhaps we need to change our approach, or... maybe we should just cultivate someone entirely of our own from scratch?"
Lin Yan listened and remained silent for a moment. The situation was even more chaotic than he had imagined. It was indeed a murky mess, but it also meant that with enough strength and skill, one might be able to catch an unexpected big fish in it.
"Understood. Continue to observe, focusing on those who might be marginalized or have vulnerabilities that make them easy to control. Money is not the issue; the key is to find even the slightest opening," Lin Yan instructed.
"Yes, Master." Lin Er's voice was deep and resonant.
Lin Yan's fingertips tapped unconsciously on the table, producing a rhythmic, soft sound. His mind was completely absorbed in speculating about the chaos in Hong Kong.
"Kill them all?" The thought flashed through his mind for a moment before he dismissed it. Killing might bring temporary clarity, but it was by no means a long-term solution. Desire and greed are like weeds; burn one, and as long as the soil—that distorted system of profit distribution—remains, a new, even more rampant, weed will soon sprout. They can't be killed off, they simply can't be killed off.
His gaze deepened, as if piercing through time and space to see the core of the problem.
"The root cause lies in the system, in that 'spoofing system' that was tacitly approved or even designed," he muttered to himself. "If it weren't for the tacit approval or even indulgence of the British devils above, who would believe that people like Lui Lok and Lam Kong could be so unscrupulous and climb to the position of chief inspector? They need these local thugs to maintain the surface order and their colonial rule. As for the lives of ordinary Chinese people, they have never been a priority for them."
"Should we go directly to Perry Parkes?" Lin Yan pondered. The Governor of Hong Kong theoretically possessed supreme power, but offering him advice rashly was extremely risky. "He might be interested in doing something, but he's also surrounded by a vast colonial bureaucracy and vested interest groups. If we alert him and touch the vested interests of his already well-fed British officials and even Chinese detectives, the backlash from their alliances could be far more powerful than imagined. It might even... endanger Parkes himself. This path is too dangerous and too direct; it would easily expose ourselves and our people to the open, making us targets."
His mind quickly shifted, and a more roundabout, more strategic approach gradually became clear in his mind.
"But what if... the evidence isn't submitted directly by us, but rather discovered and made public by 'angry Hong Kong citizens' and 'truth-seeking media' themselves?" A sharp glint flashed in Lin Yan's eyes.
"For example, a seemingly righteous anonymous informant might send a copy of a 'black ledger' detailing bribe amounts, times, and locations, or a 'secret recording' of a crucial conversation about dividing the spoils, to the Sing Tao Daily or the South China Morning Post? Or perhaps some deeply affected merchants or citizens might suddenly 'accidentally' obtain irrefutable evidence that could implicate a detective or gang leader?"
He could almost picture the scene: horrifying details dominating the front pages of newspapers for days on end, starkly contrasting account figures, and naked power-seeking and threats in the conversations… It would be like a boulder thrown into stagnant water.
"Once public resentment is ignited, it is difficult to extinguish. Demonstrations will appear in the streets, students will hold up banners, and labor unions will protest... The voices of 'Fight corruption, arrest Godber' (a slogan from the 70s, borrowed here) will resound throughout Hong Kong and Kowloon. At that time, public opinion will be overwhelming, and the anger of the masses will be difficult to defy. Even if the Governor's Office and the top police officers want to cover it up, in order to maintain the most basic dignity and stability of colonial rule, they will have to make a gesture, establish an investigation committee, and may even have to 'reluctantly execute Ma Su' and throw out a few sufficiently weighty scapegoats to quell public anger."
This step doesn't involve directly confronting the core of power, but rather cleverly utilizing the power of the people and the pressure of public opinion to force the core of power to clean house themselves. It transforms top-down reform into bottom-up coercion.
"In this way," Lin Yan's thinking became clearer, "our safety is greatly increased by staying behind the scenes. Lin Er's task is to find the most crucial ledgers from those rotten apples, or to create opportunities to 'help' a certain journalist or victim obtain irrefutable evidence that can ignite public opinion. We can even guide the direction and pace of the protests at the appropriate time."
This requires extremely high operational skills and a precise grasp of timing, but compared to direct confrontation or indefinite waiting, this is undoubtedly a more feasible path and one that is more in line with his current situation.
"While addressing the root cause certainly requires starting with legislation and institutional restructuring, before that, we must first tear open a bloody wound and expose the festering sore to the sunlight." Lin Yan ultimately decided on a strategy: "Let the people of Hong Kong themselves demand justice from their 'upright officials'."
He once again communicated telepathically with Lin Er, issuing new and more specific instructions: stop searching for seemingly usable "protective umbrellas," and instead focus all his efforts on infiltrating and gathering damning evidence of police-triad collusion that could ignite public opinion throughout Hong Kong. The target was the deepest part of that quagmire.